Aaron Schock: The continuing saga of Congressman Codel and his merry men

That’s the dilemma facing confirmed-bachelor and consummate world-traveler Aaron Schock. You wouldn’t know it from many of the social media posts, but in addition to incessantly visiting exotic locations around the world and meeting lots of cute young guys, Schock is also the “conservative” seriously-anti-gay Republican congressman from smalltown Peoria, Illinois.

Since the revelation, Schock’s Twitter feed went all “ex-gay,” not reporting an update since last November. Schock’s Instagram account, on the other hand, is definitely still a friend of Dorothy. Albeit, a more closeted one.

While one post is of Schock with a known gay man, the others are putatively “straight” pictures that just so happen to contain Schock with one or more awfully good-looking, usually dark-haired, young guys.

The next two photos are particularly artful. They’re about such benign topics as a pretty place setting, and the Vatican, except of course the photos “just happen” to contain really hot dark-haired young men. Yep, nothing gay about that.

But putting aside his Instagram account’s homophilia aside, Schock has another more serious problem: His obvious narcisissim.

Judging by his Instagram account, you might be undertandably confused to hear that Aaron Schock is the Congressman from Peoria, than the Representative from Rio. Schock is a world-class traveler who’s just as comfortable in over-$400-a-night digs at the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole, Wyoming as he is surfing at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.

If these trips aren’t related to Schock’s job in Congress, then he must be awfully wealthy, and have an awfully easy constituency, if he has time to galavant around the world to this degree. And if this trips are “congressional delegations,” aka “codels,” meaning official trips that a bunch of members of Congress take together, and the taxpayer pays for, then why do we only ever see photos of Schock half-nude, or shopping, or visiting swank French pastry shops, or skiing (a lot), or hanging out with awfully-cute dark-haired young men?

He sure has an awful lot of free time and disposable income compared to most members of Congress.

Did I mention that our down-home congressman from Peoria hired a surfing coach while out in Hawaii, and then had a service photograph him while surfing, as part of the deal. It’s good to be king.

Schock has apparently never met a congressional delegation he didn’t like. The guy goes everywhere, and he posts photos of his voyages, a lot of them, and very few show him at work rather than play.

In just the last year, and really most of these are from the only the past few months, Aaron Schock have visited:

Snowbird, Utah

Vail, Colorado

Venice, Italy

Hawaii

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Montenegro

Malta

Skiing in Wasatch, Utah

Sicily

Mt. Etna

Capri

Nice, France

Rome

Japan, for a rare “at-work” photo – though actually just a cool chance to fly in a helicopter

The last facet of Congressman Codel’s fabulous frolicks is his penchant for star-f*cking. We’ve already seen him with Apple’s Steve Cook, but here he is doing a group selfie, just like Ellen, at “the pit” from the Country Music Awards!

And here he is with famed English billionaire Richard Branson!

And here he is with stars from the Grammys!

And great seats at the Justin Timberlake concert (becuse what conservative heterosexual GOP congressman doesn’t gush over Justin Timberlake).

And Carrie Underwood!

Like all gay Instagram accounts, this one has a beard – his gun

Do read the description to the right, and the first comment.

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John AravosisFollow me on Twitter: @aravosis | @americablog | @americabloggay | Facebook | Instagram | Google+ | LinkedIn. John Aravosis is the Executive Editor of AMERICAblog, which he founded in 2004. He has a joint law degree (JD) and masters in Foreign Service from Georgetown; and has worked in the US Senate, World Bank, Children's Defense Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, and as a stringer for the Economist. He is a frequent TV pundit, having appeared on the O'Reilly Factor, Hardball, World News Tonight, Nightline, AM Joy & Reliable Sources, among others. John lives in New York City, and is the cofounder of TimeToResign.com. Bio, article archive.

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Oh, he still accepts followers. At least ones of the female variety–he accepted my follow request. Clearly didn’t look at anything other than my profile pic before accepting though or he’d have seen how gay my feed is.

pappyvet

Not much for the Vatican but I’m crazy about the clothes.

zacharybynum

My sister lives in Peoria, and reports that Schock has done nothing for the district. The only appeal he has is that he’s great looking. All the old ladies just love him, and the men want to hang out with him. By the way, Montenegro, Dubrovnik and Malta were destinations on last summer’s Atlantis gay cruises. Just saying.

barbarajmay

You are always at your best in this kind of reporting.

BrianG

Agreed. But a Congressman with 20 or 30 years seniority can amass a lot of power. The problem is that the Peoria Journal Star will never report on his numerous junkets, donor bundling with Rep. Mike Grimm, or his sexual orientation.

As for the GOP, they know. A few years back someone affiliated with retired Congressman Tim Johnson was attempting to gain traction with some inconclusive photos of Schock in the vicinity of a certain downtown Champaign bar.

But he may not run for governor or continue to be much more than the congressman from peoria once the gop fully appreciates who they’re hanging their hat on.

Josh Morris

“Dropping in from Mt. Top.” *snicker* I’ve climbed a similar mountain in Utah!

BrianG

He’ll have a long political life. He received 74 % percent of the vote in 2012. There hasn’t been a Democrat represent the district since the Wilson Administration. The closest a Democrat has ever come was Doug Stephens getting 48 percent back in the depths of the Reagan recession in 1982.

Peoria is an extremely messed up area. Jim Ardis the three term mayor just had seven cops raid a house to bust the owner of a fake Jim Ardis parody twitter account which had been inactive for weeks.

Silver_Witch

No worries – it is not doing it today! Thanks for the tips though….I think I see exactly what you are saying about the right-click on the ad thingie. Chrome is pretty cool with the reveal codes function!

cc423

What a vapid little man.

John30013

“This is my rifle, this is my gun. One is for hunting, the other’s for fun.”
Or something like that.

ScottJL

When the hell does this guy have time to do the job he was elected to? Typical Congressman wasting taxpayer’s money.

dcinsider

Brilliant. Keep the microscope on this prick.

AnthonyLook

Hilarious article. Good stuff.

Palto

Just as long as he posts the minimal amount of GOP talking points (shooting deer in his backyard blah blah blah) all will be forgiven.

Palto

No matter how far and WIDE this guy travels, he’s always living it in the suffocating confines of his self-imposed closet. Good.

The_Fixer

Me three!

Who pays for all of these junkets? He’s a Republican, so you know he doesn’t pay for them.

I have to say that if he is gay, I don’t want to claim such a narcissistic asshole.

The_Fixer

I looked at the photo John posted of the wrestling West Pointer and immediately thought “nice young gay dude”. The picture you posted above makes me think that even more.

Not that it’s wise to judge solely on appearances, but…

Monophylos Fortikos

Damn. At least I know I’ve got some other thoughts in my head. What the hell are you doing to do?

emjayay

Not a single photo of all his fab new shoes or anything.

Indigo

But no trophy selfie with the Pope? What a wimp!

4th Turning

The roses have definitely been photo shopped!

4th Turning

Many, but not near enough…

PatB

And if you point it out, you’re one too–double classic! Understandable considering today’s supreme court decision–rack up one for the good guys!

Oh, wonderful. Not only is this idiot gay, but he’s that bubble-headed gay guy whom you sometimes run into at a party or wherever who talks incessantly about nothing but himself.

Elijah Shalis

They identify as Independents now. They still exist and Obama wouldn’t have been elected without them. If you seriously think Corporate democrats that sign Free Trade Agreements and things like the Defense of Marriage Act are going to help America, I have news for you. They must be purged from the Democratic Party.

cokey

Keep your hands to yourself, dude. You’re no Steve Jobs.

Thom Allen

Post it to his Facebook page and watch it vanish by tomorrow AM.

emjayay

With Windows 8.1 and whatever came with the new stuff I don’t have that problem any more with IE. The only problem is that they improved everything with the revolutionary new 8 so it’s much more confusing and awkward to use, and then with 8.1 halfway changed some things back to the way they used to be, sort of. With MS it’s like, what slick things did we always have for people to do stuff without hardly thinking about it or anyone having to even explain it that we can change and make obscure and baffling.

Meanwhile Google Maps also came up with a new totally improved mess that everyone seems to be unanimously derisive of, but you can change back to the old unimproved version that works.

Thom Allen

One of his constituents commented that he’s invite Schock out to his place to see if they could get a buck. Of course Schock would want a BUCK and not a doe. Or maybe Schock and his hunting buddy would just sit around cleaning their rifles.

Thom Allen

I think Schock’s ego and cockiness are like Anthony Weiner’s. And Weiner’s political career is in the toilet for now, at least. But there are others with that same cockiness who have survived and returned. Look at Mark (“I’m hiking the Appalachian Trail = I’m balling a South American bimbo) Sanford, who made it into Congress after that ballsy business. And Scott Des Jarlais won his race even after his “family values” were found to consist of cheating on his wife and forcing his mistress to have an abortion. I think if the constituents like the candidate enough, they’ll forgive a whole hell of a lot. Many of the Peorians seem to think that Schock is fantastic.

emjayay

He shouldn’t have a problem with that.

emjayay

Found this. Had to share. Enjoy.

emjayay

It’s great that DADT is over and you can be gay at West Point, because only one kind of little wrestler wears bow ties with a pink-yellow (?) shirt, or a maybe a yellow tie with a black shirt. Just sayin’.

I have never seen a member of Congress so overtly in love with himself, but worse, who spends so much time galavanting around the world. And then bragging about it publicly. And then, the brags, as you note, are all fun stuff, not actual work. If he survives long term in politics it will be a miracle. He has that dangerous narcisistic cockiness, also called hubris, that dooms many a politician.

PeteWa

“and I didn’t care when the closeted gay man named Schock
was working on anti-gay laws because I was too superficial”
~modern Niemöller in a dress

He’s an elected Congressman who votes against LGBT rights and issues. He’s not just a ‘public figure’ — he’s a member of our government, which means what he does affects you.

You may not think what he does is your business, but he’s more than happy to believe that what YOU do is HIS business.

Thom Allen

Every couple of weeks since Itay Hod outed Schock, I check out his Facebook page. It’s amazing how much free time he seems to have. Probably 70% of his photos and comments are only peripherally, if at all, related to his “job” in Congress. Most of the time he’s out wining and dining, being entertained, jet setting around, working out, or relaxing poolside/mountainside/beachside. Of course, all the House has been able to do for the past few years is to try to repeal the ACA and nothing else, so they do have lots of free time.

Some of his constituents will complain about his jaunts, but many seem to just condone his irresponsibility on their dime. I guess fiscal responsibility, for RepubliCONS, must start at home – someone ELSE’S home.

Obsessing over a public figure’s sexual interests is very 20th Century, unless he’s a public figure who obsesses over our sexual interests and legislates against them, then it’s very much our business. You seem to be thinking that he’s some private citizen or something and that his sexual orientation has nothing to do with anything. It has everything to do with everything.

Jeff Shew

I guess I am out of gay mainstream, because I do not give a flying rat’s ass what he does OR who he may or may not do it with…if I am not involved directly, then it is none of my damn business. I know a certain class of gay has an ax to grind with him, and more power to that class. However, my view comes from drag performer Alyssa Edwards–“Get a grip, get a life, and get over it”. Obsessing over a public figure’s sexual interests is very 20th Century.

PeteWa

“if you knew history”
that history has been dead and buried for well over fifty years now.
and after they tossed it in a ditch and threw on some dirt, they salted the earth.

“The only way progress is going to be made is if the Progressive Republicans* and Progressive Democrats”

* haven’t seen any of those in my lifetime, and I’m a good deal older than you.

Who knew the answer to “how will this play in Pioria?” was as simple as “with his hot, tight hole.”

Elijah Shalis

If you knew history you would know that the Progressive movement was started by moderate Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt and Taft. The conservative Republicans have marginalized and silenced them. Instead of attacking them you should empower the silenced Republicans to speak out. You obviously live in a bubble. I guess you just love the corporate democrats like Rahm Emmanuel and Bill Clinton that speak the talk yet sell everyone down the river for profit. Wake up cup cake. The only way progress is going to be made is if the Progressive Republicans and Progressive Democrats united and marginalize the conservative Republicans and corporate democrats. I should point out my friend is for civil liberties and gay rights for all. You are very short sighted.

You have to be able to install and use some kind of “inspect element” feature, which i think chrome already has. It’s not easy. You then have to right click right above the ad, it opens some code, then copy horrific pages of code. This is why it’s been so hard to get this fixed, it’s next to impossible to dog it. It’s pretty clearly IMHO some advertiser playing games, trying to run two ads, and who simply doesn’t care how much it screws up our sites. Truly truly annoying.

woodroad34

As @Henry Owen mentioned above, he is a very conceited person (or at least makes a good appearance of one) and that egotism and self-centeredness will be his undoing.

woodroad34

That one picture of him with the young man in the bowtie and shiny pants looks like a speech at a pep rally for the Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles

Must be nice to be able to take all those vacations while I slave away teaching people their math, writing, and some career skills at a community college.

2karmanot

Yawn

Silver_Witch

He is very wee!

Silver_Witch

Oh john the pill ads are blocking most of the bottom of the article….darn. (they lead to how live leads or something) – where is the code – can I find the code for you?

kingstonbears

Yet!

Elijah Shalis

Gay Republicans that are against gay rights or meet up in airport bathrooms or like aaron shock post photos of himself with really young twinks or david vitter or mark sanford, need I go on?

judybrowni

Who are the odd people?

Elijah Shalis

I have a friend that is a gay republican that is a descendant of President Taft. If would be cool if he was more active and vocal. He is not odd like these people, very normal.

Junior

He’s a pocket gay!

Elijah Shalis

Only one of these photos looks suspicious to me actually. To me it seems like he is “sanitizing” his images online. So sad really. At least he hasn’t been caught with a prostitute or in a diaper like Vitter or with young teens like others or in an airport bathroom.

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